International Marketplaces: The Fast Track to Driving International Growth
Marketplaces help you steer clear of hazards by localizing your international reach. This is especially true in Latin America, where Forrester says cross-border trade will grow 30 percent annually to $220 billion by 2017, accounting for almost 15 percent of all e-commerce activity.
"G-localization" is helping online brands connect with the next wave of international online shoppers, says Federico Torres, co-founder of Traetelo, which operates cross-border marketplaces for the top 10 countries in Latin America. "The new ‘going global’ is being local," says Torres, especially for online retailers targeting the rising global middle class of online shoppers. When it comes to reaching Latin American shoppers, who now make 30 percent of their online purchases from U.S. e-commerce sites, Torres suggests three "g-localization" priorities — language, payments and cross-border shipping.